TAG Medical, the leading independent medical equipment calibrators is now offering repair and service options on ECGs, Defibrillators, Audiometers, Ear Syringes, and Spirometers.
Working with leading manufacturers, our in-house time-served technicians can get your equipment back on track and in tip-top condition often in just a couple of days.
Please contact us if you require any equipment repairs or spares.
The process of applying a know input or process to simulate a patient’s results. The know input must be the correct figure for the performance of that equipment and the equipment used to carry out the test must be itself calibrated to national or UKAS standards to ensure the results of the item being tested are verified against a reliable source.
If the results or readings from the item are out of tolerance by the acceptable percentage then the item has failed the test. Calibration is the process of correcting the item to bring its results back into the acceptable percentage error. Calibration requires adjusting or repairing the medical equipment before the results can be rechecked and verified.
Check out this page, for more details:
Independent healthcare regulators and medical equipment manufacturers recommend that medical equipment is maintained and serviced annually.
It is not advised that untrained individuals attempt service their own medical equipment.
TAG Medical technical staff are specifically trained as Electro-Bio-Medical Engineers (EBME). All our technicians have many years of experience in the NHS or private healthcare sectors.
Yes, we provide full certification for your records and QOF inspection. We can provide digital or printed certificates.
Calibration is a way of verifying a machines accuracy to a known standard. If a machine is found to be operating out of tolerance then the process of calibration corrects the unit.
Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) main principle is to eliminate equipment downtime and enhance patient safety by picking up potential failures before they occur.
TAG Medical offers its services to NHS hospitals and trusts, as well as GP doctors surgeries, and PCTs. (Primary Care Trusts).
TAG also offers excellent prices on medical equipment calibration to consortiums and practice manager groups
TAG Medical, the leading independent medical equipment testers and calibrators is pleased to welcome 2 new technicians!
Martin and Andrew will help support 3 new contracts TAG Medical has won in Leeds and Newcastle.
EBME stands Electro-Biomedical Engineering. Most large hospitals have an EBME department within the hospital that service and maintain the medical equipment in the hospital and often nearby doctors surgeries and health centres.
EBME technicians can test and calibrate all the equipment found in a typical doctors surgery as well as more specialist larger equipment found in a modern large hospital.
TAG Medical supports EBME technicians and departments in hospitals helping technicians fullfil targets especially when the work load is high.
If you would like more information, please contact us
Please click to download the word document
http://www.tagmedical.co.uk/Leaflet.doc
Purchasing
A good rule to follow is to choose industry names. They are more expensive, however, they offer much better value for money. Here are some examples:
Blood pressure monitors
Even when looking to purchase a new sphygmomanometer do not always pick the cheapest. You can buy cheap no-brand sphygs for pounds or you may even have been given one for free from a drug company representative. These are poor quality units and should not be used as a reliable and accurate measure of blood pressure.
Scales
Do not buy cheap domestic scales, stick to industry brands. If you can afford it we would recommend SECA digital
scales.
Remember to place scales on a hard surface and try to keep them in the same place. Moving scales from underneath a bed and placing them on carpet, weighing the patient then putting the scales back under the bed is not good practice. A simple piece of wood will do the trick.
Be gentle with scales, do not kick them or push them with your feet.
ECGs and Defibrillators
Again stick to the big names, they offer the best support and reliability. Try and get demonstrations from companies, often these are free of charge.
Check your pads are in date and are securely fastened within the packaging, if exposed to air they can quickly dry out, when this happens they can no longer be used.
Ear syringes
The majority of ear syringe units in the UK are Pro Pulse (made by Mirage). It is very important to have your ear syringe checked. Perforation and ear drum damage is the biggest form of litigation against practices; pressure must be checked to ensure it is not operating above the recommended guidelines. There are still many old units out there that are especially high in pressure and are potential harmful.
Height measurers
This may seem a slightly bizarre test, however, you would be surprised at how many height measures are over 3 centimetres out.
If using a measure that secures to the wall, ensure you measure from the floor to different measurements on the tape before fixing it in place. Check at various intervals, for example, 0.5 metres, 1 metre, 1.5 metres and 2 metres. You may need 2 people! Secure the height measurer firmly so the screw does not come loose.
Not sure about a make and model?
TAG Medical Ltd test thousands of pieces of medical equipment every year and know which makes and models are the top performers. Not sure which is the best performing digital BP monitor? Please give us a call, we will be happy to let you know.
Test and calibration
Test and calibration should be performed every 12 months on all medical equipment. To minimise disruption, see if you can get your PAT testing done at the same time.
The purpose of test and calibration is to check that medical equipment is working correctly and has no faults; the equipment is measured against a calibrated source and cross checked to ensure it reads correctly against a known input. If equipment does not measure the simulated input accurately enough or does not fall within the given tolerance it is then calibrated to meet the tolerance.
Why bother having test and calibration, we didn’t used to do this?
Calibration is a way of verifying a machines accuracy to a known standard. This can help to minimise misdiagnosis by identifying poorly calibrated or malfunctioning equipment.
Test and calibration will provide you with peace of mind, knowing all of your equipment is 100% accurate and is working as well as it did on the day it was purchased.
What to look out for when choosing a company:
The company
There are now many companies that will offer you test and calibration services. Choose an independent company, a company that specialises in GP equipment testing and calibration. A lot of medical equipment suppliers now offer a test and calibration service to supplement their supplies. This is an additional service to selling medical equipment and is often tied in together. They may be more inclined to fail a piece of equipment and replace it with a new one rather than repair it. Many of these suppliers have started test and calibration as an add-on service to their core business, this
means the quality of the service is often jeopardised and poor. A specialist company’s knowledge should be more precise and helpful.
Documentation
All equipment should be labelled and certificates should relate to individual pieces of equipment. The documentation should be presented to you clearly and concisely.
If you are tempted by a low cost service, something will have to give somewhere. Often the quality of the documentation is one area in which you will notice this.
Day rate? Cost?
Be clear on how much work is involved to start with. Half and day rates can be tricky. The amount of time it takes to carry out the work is dependent on the availability of the equipment. If you only have 20 items to test and you pay a full day rate then you could be paying the technician to drink a lot of tea! Look for a company that can work around your practice and perhaps offer a two hour slot during lunchtime or a less busy Wednesday afternoon, for example, to test your 20 items. Try and work on a per item price rather than day rates. This way you will then know exactly what you are paying for and you will not be disappointed to find out that not all your equipment has been tested come 5pm on the day.
Contracts
Do not be pushed into contracts, only sign up when you are 100% happy.
TAG Medical has an excellent reputation for quality of service and can answer any questions you may have about this article.
The accuracy of your blood pressure monitor is of the utmost importance and faulty blood pressure monitors may give incorrect readings affecting results and diagnostics. Having your blood pressure monitor tested and calibrated ensures complete accuracy, efficiency is improved and maintenance costs are reduced.
Why choose TAG?
> We are an the independent medical equipment calibration and testing company, who will fix your blood pressure monitor rather than condemn it.
> TAG Medical is an ISO 9001 accredited company, underlining the ability to deliver a quality assured service.
> We are experts in medical equipment testing and calibration.
Cost: £19 +vat.
Timescale: 3-5 working days from receipt of unit.
Instructions: Simply send your blood pressure monitor to:
TAG Medical Ltd
1 The Triangle
ng2 Business Park
Nottingham
NG2 1AE
Please also send the cuff and a cheque for £19 + vat (£21.85 inc vat) made payable to TAG Medical Ltd. We will test and calibrate the unit and send it back to you complete with test certificate and certification label.
Please remember to include your return address and contact details. If the unit requires a charger please send that too. We recommend you send the unit by recorded delivery.
If your blood pressure monitor is found to be operating outside the recommended tolerance levels or is faulty in any other way, TAG Medical will attempt to repair the unit at no extra charge. If it is beyond economic repair, TAG Medical will inform you immediately. TAG Medical is an independent company and does not in any way benefit from this process, ensuring an unbiased and objective service.
Regards
The TAG Team
1. Install a temperature monitor to ensure vaccines are being kept within 2 to 8 degrees centigrade.
2. Do not keep food or drink in your vaccine refrigerator, constant opening and closing will increase the temperature of the fridge and may be detrimental to vaccines inside.
3. Use a medical, not a domestic fridge. A medical fridge will have a built-in fan to help maintain a consistent temperature throughout. It will also have temperature control, as well as a lock.
4. Log fridge temperatures at least twice a day.
5. Always remove any ice build up as this will affect circulation and will increase temperatures.
